Harvest Time TV Weblog

A Heart of Thanksgiving

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:19:45 +0900

I recently became aware of something as I completed the final volume of The Bible Story for the Japanese novel series I've been working on for the last four years. I now realize that all during the time I was working on the project, the strain I was feeling every day was also being experienced by my family and staff to a considerable degree. When it was over and I began to relax, the people around me seemed more relaxed, as well. My wife told me many times, "We were feeling it, too!" Now that I'm free of the burden of writing, I can see how so many people around me contributed to the success of the project. And this is true of not just the last four years, either. This has turned out to be an excellent opportunity to reflect upon my life as a whole up to this point.

The Fragrance of Authenticity

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:52:00 +0900

I first heard about North Korea's October 9th nuclear weapons test while riding in a taxi in Ōsaka. I don't know how many times I sighed to myself that day, but I think you can sum all this up as an absolutely insane choice on the part of the North Korean government.

New Religions of the Internet Age

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:22:45 +0900

As of October 1st, our new Internet TV website went on-line. We had a little trouble at first with visitors who couldn't create new member accounts, but we got that smoothed out and everything's functioning normally now. Much thanks to the large number of you folks who registered for free accounts with us to watch Harvest Time on-line. This is a real groundbreaking development in Harvest Time's history. It makes me feel like we're really "plugged-in" to the times. Visitors to the site can access and view our programming (with English sub-titles included) from anywhere in the world and at any time of day. We currently have about 200 of our past programs available on-line with plans to make it 500 programs in the near future. We'll also be adding an Internet Radio section featuring various audio presetations, as well. Access it for yourself by going to www.harvestinternet.tv and sign up for a free account.

Looking for the Real Thing

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:54:05 +0900

During the month of July, the Japanese government conducted some public opinion research related to intellectual property issues. Out of a total sampling of 3,000 adults 20 or over, 1,801 responded to the survey. Some results were as follows:

The War in Lebanon

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:00:50 +0900

During the time we were enjoying summer vacation, the Middle East exploded into violence. Now, the fighting that took place along Lebanon's southern border is being referred to as "the Lebanon War." And the tenor of world media reporting on this event has been, quite predictably, virtually monolithic in its criticism of Israel. The Japanese media is no exception. I've read and heard all the commentary of the various experts and pundits in the papers and on TV. Quite honestly, it was all way off the mark and quite discouraging to me personally. I've often said this, but what's really important in any conflict is the ability to read what's going on behind the scenes.

Praying for Islam

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:42:05 +0900

A few weeks ago, I got a note from one of our former Harvest Time guests, Ali Regeaian. Ali is orginally from Iran. He's a former Muslim believer who is now a Christian pastor here in Japan. At the time he contacted me, he and over 120 other church leaders were in the final week of a 40-day prayer and fasting campaign to intercede for Iran. Although the special prayer campaign is finished, Iran is still very much in the news and prayer for this important nation and her people is very much needed. With that in mind, I'd like to share the following information with you in hopes that it would encourage many of you to continue in intercession.

Destroying Society with Words

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:22:30 +0900

Recently, I received the following e-mail message. I was deeply impressed by it and thought I'd share it with you. It's from a non-Christian young woman living in Chiba Prefecture.

How are you? While I was still in school, I used to watch Harvest Time now and then on Chiba TV and now I've been receiving your e-mail magazine for about the last two years. Living in a world where everything changes so quickly, I've found myself longing for something that doesn't. I'm not a Christian, but I'm a fan of Harvest Time.

Japanese-Israelism

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:35:06 +0900

Have you ever heard the term "Japanese-Israelism"? There are a good number of varieties of the concept, but basically it means that the Japanese race and the Jewish race came from a common ancestor. In other words, the Japanese people are the descendants of one or more of Israel's 10 lost tribes (here's one example of a website devoted to the idea).

There are some Christian pastors here in Japan that hold to this view and it seems as if lately, a good number of believers are being strongly influenced by the teaching of this theory. In general society, as well, there are a couple of publishing firms that seem to be taking full advantage of the commercial value of public interest in Japanese-Israelism.

Israel and Media Reporting

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 23:14:05 +0900

On Friday, June 9th, in the northern Gaza area, seven members of a Palestinian family enjoying an excursion to the beach were killed by an explosion. Immediately, the Islamic fundamentalist ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, issued a statement claiming that the explosion was the result of a deliberate shelling by Israeli artillery. This news was released to the world's media organizations accompanied by video of a young girl holding onto a dead family member, screaming and weeping. Like most folks who saw this, I, too, couldn't help but feel compassion for the young girl when I saw this.

Israelology Seminar

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 22:05:00 +0900

This year was the fifth time we've had Messianic Jewish leader Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum come to Japan for one of his Bible seminars. His presentations are always so intense and logically consistent and this year was no exception. The topic title this time was "Israelology: Theology's 'Missing Link'." Dr. Fruchtenbaum explained in detail about Israel's place in scripture, a subject which has never really received a fully-developed treatment in systematic theology. His lectures touched on four areas:

Israel in the Past
Modern-day Israel
Israel in the Future
Other Matters Related to Israel.

He explained the various covenants in the Bible and how they relate to Israel by the use of a historical timeline and also dealt with the relationship between Israel and the Church. Here are my impressions of how things went.

Good Job!

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 12:58:10 +0900

When you engage in discussions about the Church in Japan, someone eventually starts talking about why the total number of Christians in Japan is so small or why Christians don't seem to be able to exert much influence upon society. It's always important to reflect honestly upon your own situation and there's no denying that those issues have to be addressed. However, if you become overly critical of yourself, that could lead to a spiritually unhealthy state of mind. With that in mind, I'd like to brag on Japanese Christians a bit in my post this week.

The Da Vinci Code Whirlwind

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 17:10:15 +0900

In my April 20th post, I talked about the recently-published Gospel of Judas. I mentioned that it was written by a heretical group known as the Gnostics and that it offered no threat whatsoever to orthodox Christianity. The next big thing to grab the public's attention, however, has been the release of the movie version of the best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code. It showed first at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17th without much critical acclaim, but box office receipts from its general theater release have been pretty good so far.

Remembering the Days of Youth

Thu, 25 May 2006 22:07:10 +0900

Last Thursday (5/18), I got together with some friends from my college days and we had a really great time. Our Alma Mater is Hitotsubashi University in Tōkyō. The school had an English Club in its International Studies Department at that time and all of us were members during our time spent there. Club members had tradionally thrown heart-and-soul into the production of an English drama presentation. Even years later, this performance is always one of those unforgettable college memories.

Turning Losses into Gains

Thu, 18 May 2006 23:00:30 +0900

Last week on Thursday was our TV production day for May. Of the four programs we taped, one of them focused on the Child Sponsorship program of World Vision Japan. Every year about this time we make it a point to zero in on the needs of the world's children and feature the work of World Vision Japan.

Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum

Fri, 05 May 2006 01:01:15 +0900

As we've done every year for the past several years, we'll be having Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum back for a teaching seminar this summer. Arnold was born in Siberia, emigrated with his family to the U.S. after World War II and is currently director of Ariel Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas. This year, he'll be leading a study for us entitled, "Israelology: Theology's Missing Link." Theological studies up to this point in time have pretty much failed to give the subject of Israel the kind of systematic placement that it warrants. Because of this, studies in this area could well be referred to as theology's "missing link." This year's seminar, then, will be very much like a comprehensive survey of all of Dr. Fruchtenbaum's previous seminars with us.

As an evangelist, I can say that no one has had a greater impact on my ministry thus far than Arnold Fruchtenbaum. Therefore, I'd like to touch on what the distinctive features of his ministry are in this week's post.